Friday, July 29, 2011
The More You Drink, The More Fun It Gets
Say - purely hypothetically - that you're in the mountains for two weeks. With an almost-five year old, an almost-four year old, and a just-two year old. No tv, save the well-worn Maisy dvd that appears some afternoons when mummy has remembered to charge the laptop. And rain. Unseasonably profuse rain.
I'm not saying this scenario should lead a woman to wine ... but, if it happens to ...
make the most of it.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Postcards from the Pyrenees: The Universal Language of Markets
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Postcards from the Pyrenees
Sometimes you find yourself in a place that just fits. You step out your door and look around you and feel this incredible belonging. In the southern mountains of France, in a countryside speckled with villages and farms and fromageries, I've found my heart.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
What to Get Friends Who Tell You Not to Get Anything
Salt.
Well, if they love salt like my friends do. Then, you can get 6 different varieties - like Himalayan salt; Celtic sea salt; Smoked sea salt; Portuguese sea salt; Queensland macrobiotic salt; and Murray River salt. You can decant them into lovely little tins, label each, and box them up with a big bow on top.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Sustainability is Really Just Sharing
My little non-vegetarian loves seafood. She would happily eat it every day ... and here along the west coast of Scotland it's not hard to imagine. Fresh ocean and loch-caught fish. Mussels, scallops, prawns, langostines, crabs, clams, oysters, and a host of creatures I've never even heard of - fresh and local. She's loving it.
"I want to catch all the fish in the ocean and eat them up," she states, hungrily.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Scottish Ale Bread
Monday, July 11, 2011
Beau-Tea for Travellers - III. Coffee
Sure. It's obvious.
Coffee is like that. It's the Ferrari of caffeine transmission. And when you fly from Brisbane to LA as often as we do - crossing the date line and finding you land 6 hours before you took off - coffee is a good great idea for keeping awake till dark.
But what else can this magic potion do for us? There are certain lines of thinking that regular ingestion of coffee via - well, other parts of your body - can be quite detoxifying. But I'm not here to tell you about that.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Almond Travel Cookies
Sometimes I end up with too many yolks. It's not a common infliction, I know, but a serious one. It usually hits me after making meringue ... and my natural inclination is to pop the unused yolks into a jar to be stored on an obscure shelf in my fridge ... where I can forget about it for a month or so ...
Until my lovely golden yolks are revolting and I have to tip them out.
What a waste.
So, this time I made cookies out of my yolks.
What a genius.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Beau-Tea for Travellers - II. Chamomile Tea
Chamomile can be a traveller's best friend. It doesn't have caffeine - meaning you can drink it to your heart's content. Your child can drink it to her heart's content. And more than that ... it's soporific. Sleep-inducing. Relaxing.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Potatoes for Picnics
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Beau-Tea for Travellers - I. Green Tea
Economy is just not what it used to be. I mean, when I was a kid I loved flying ... the special seats, the tray-bound meals, the excitement of new books and toys. That cool little pin that said - hey, I might just be a pilot, too! The anticipation of new places and the potential for presents from little-seen relatives.
But flights to New Jersey didn't take 14 hours.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I Love Meringue.
There's something about meringues that gets me. Maybe it's how they come together like that chemistry experiment I wish I'd learned in high school. (We made soap instead. Ick.) Or how their flavour perfectly suits tangy passionfruit and creamy Greek yogurt. Or how you bite into them like air ... only to find a satisfying chewiness in the centre.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm ....
Friday, July 1, 2011
Lunchbox Styling for Busy Mums
Lunchboxes are a tricky business. And I don't know about you, but I never seem to manage to pack Nelle's the night before.
